There was public dismay on Thursday when a letter from the treasury deputy secretary Patrick Ocailip dated 9th, 2021 asking the Bank of Ugandan Governor Emmanuel Mutebile to give his opinion on the taxation of Bank withdrawals and to provide necessary data for the last three financial years not later than today, leaked.
According to the ministry, whereas mobile money withdraws are subject to a 0.5% excise duty, over the counter, agency banking and ATM withdrawals are not subjected to the same tax. Ocailap says taxing cash withdrawals will not only improve tax compliance and increase revenue but will also encourage cashless transactions which will promote e-commerce. Ocailap says the decision follows a budget consultative meeting held on February 5th, 2021at the ministry between the Uganda communication commission, URA, Telecom operators and bank of Uganda.
RX Radio Presenter Olive Najjuma, noted that if that proposal is passed, it would be ridiculous because it will be double taxation.
“There is already a 10% excise duty tax levid on every Bank charge whether over the counter or not. If the proposal goes through, we will be paying taxes for all the charges at the Bank and then taxes for the actual amount of money withdrawn! Its like the government is always looking for ways to take money from a working Ugandan who is already burdened with a huge percentage of income tax. This is stupid and ridiculous,” she said during Friday’s The Fatboy Show.
Her co-host, James Onen a.k.a Fatboy urged the Governor Bank of Uganda and the president of Uganda to reject such proposal as it will lead to more resilience from the middle class.
“It has been said before, if you push the middle working class to the edge, there will be a revolution. I hope this proposal will be dismissed and the Treasury secretary reprimanded for making unrealistic proposals,” he said.
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The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy and Oliver Najjuma every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
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